Roof mounted foam generator with automatically opening ventilator

ABSTRACT

A WATER POWERED FOAM GENERATOR SUSPENDED FROM THE ROOF OF A BUILDING AND HAVING ITS AIR INLET AILGNED WITH AN OPENING IN THE ROOF IS INTERCONNECTED WITH A VENTILATOR WHICH COVERS THE OPENING AND IS PROVIDED WITH DOORS THAT ATOMATICALLY OPEN WHEN THE GENERATOR STARTS TO OPERATE. THE VENTILATOR IS PROVIDED WITH SPRINGS URGING THE DOORS TO OPEN, A LATCH HOLDING THE DOORS CLOSED, AND A DEVICE FOR RELEASING THE LATCH. THE FOAM GENERATOR HAS A WATER DRIVEN VERTICAL SHAFT WHICH CARRIES A MEMBER THAT OPERATES THE LATCH RELEASE DEVICE WHEN THE SHAFT ROTATES IN RESPONSE TO THE FLOW OF WATER TO THE GENERATOR.

United States Patent [72] inventors Charlesw. Perry Belleville; BenjaminWendroii, Teaneck, NJ. [2!] Appl. No. 812,235 [22] Filed Apr. 1, 1969[45] Patented June 28, 1971 [73] Assigriee Walter Kidde & Company, Inc.

Belleville, NJ.

[54] ROOF MOUNTED FOAM GENERATOR WITH AUTOMATICALLY OPENING VENTILATOR 2Clalms, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 169/15, 98/85 [5|] Int. Cl. A62c 35/00 [50] Fieldofsearch169/15, 14, 2:49/3 l; 98/85, 86; 415/41 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,884,847 5/1959 Otto 98/86 3,004,485 10/1961 Bristol98/86X 3,323,438 6/1967 Korff 98/86X 3,441,086 4/1969 Barnes 169/15Primary Examiner-- Lloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Thomas C. Culp, Jr.Attorney-Darby & Darby ABSTRACT: A water powered foam generatorsuspended from the roof of a building and having its air inlet alignedwith an opening in the roof is interconnected with a ventilator whichcovers the opening and is provided with doors that automatically openwhen the generator starts to operate. The ventilator is provided withsprings urging the doors to open, a latch holding the doors closed, anda device for releasing the latch. The foam generator has a water drivenvertical shaft' which carries a member that operates the latch releasedevice when the shaft rotates in response to the flow of water to thegenerator.

PATENTEU JUH28I97I 1745 INV NTORS CHARL S W. PERRY BENJAMIN wsuonorp BYv M AGENT PATENTEUJUNZBIHYI 3587,7145

' SHEET 2 OF 2 i ll F l G 3 INVENTORS ARLES W. PER NDR NJAMIN WE ROOFMOUNTED FOAM GENERATOR WITH AUTOMATICALLY OPENING VENTILATOR BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relatesto high expansion foam fire extinguishing apparatus and moreparticularly to foam generators which are suspended from the roof of anenclosure and utilize outside air drawn through an opening in the roof.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the past, horizontally oriented highexpansion foam generators such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,340have been installed in buildings either by mounting them in openings inthe vertical outside walls of the building or by mounting them on theroof and utilizing duct work to conduct the foam into the building.

In many instances, particularly in buildings of the warehouse type it isadvantageous to employ water powered foam generators, of the type shownin U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,393,745 and 3,441,086, which can be verticallyoriented and suspended beneath the roof of the building.

In such installations, it is desirable that the generators be positionedat regularly spaced intervals in alignment with openings in the roof sothat outside air, free of smoke contamination, is used in producing thefoam.

In order to prevent rain and snow from entering the building and heatescaping from the building, it is highly desirable to utilizeventilators which seal the openings when the generators are not inoperation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a ventilator andfoam generator arrangement wherein the ventilator normally seals theroof opening and is automatically and quickly opened to admit air inresponse to the operation of the foam generator associated therewith.

Another object is to provide such an arrangement wherein the ventilatoris latched in the closed position and is unlatched by the operation ofthe generator.

Another object is to provide such an arrangement which is simple andinexpensive to construct and install.

In accordance with the present invention the foregoing objects areaccomplished by providing in a fire extinguishing system for anenclosure including a vertically oriented water powered foam generatorwithin the enclosure having a water driven shaft carrying an air fan andhaving an air inlet, means providing an opening in the enclosure, thegenerator being mounted with its air inlet adjacent the opening to drawinlet air through the opening, and a water supply system for thegenerator including a valve for controlling the flow of water to thegenerator, the combination of a ventilator mounted at the opening havingdoor means for normally closing the opening, means for biasing the doormeans in the opening direction, latch means for holding the door meansclosed, means for releasing the latch means to allow the door means toopen, and means carried by the shaft for actuating the latch releasingmeans when the shaft rotates in response to opening of the valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of theinvention has, been chosen for purposes of illustration and description,and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thespecification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal view partly in section of a ventilator and foamgenerator positioned at an opening in the roof of a building.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a portion of the arrangement shown inFIG. 1 illustrating the ventilator latching and latch releasingmechanisms.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the latching mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings indetail there is shown the roof 10 of a building having an opening 11therein, a ventilator assembly 12 positioned over the opening 11 andincluding a metal plate member 14 resting on the roof l0 and having anopening 15 therein concentric with the opening 11, a water powered foamgenerator 16 suspended from the plate member 14 and having an air inlet17 aligned with the opening 15, and a supply 19 of water and foamingsolution mixture under pressure.

The ventilator assembly 12 also includes a pair of angle irons 20 and 21extending along the edge of the plate member 14, a pair of doors 22 and24 pivoted on the angle irons by means of pins 25, triangular end walls26 and 27, and springs 29 at each of the pivot points for opening thedoors.

A channel member 30 secured to the plate member extends across theopening 15 and a pair of channel members 31 and 32 extend verticallyupward from the center of the channel member 30.

The doors 22 and 24 are held in the closed position against the actionof the springs 29 by a latching arrangement including a latching bar 34mounted on a rotatable rod 35 extending through the channel members 31and 32, and a pair of coil springs 36 and 37. The spring 36 is providedwith a loop 39 on one end thereof which loosely engages a pin 40extending upwardly from the bar 34. The other end of the spring 36 ispermanently connected to the door 22. The spring 37 has one endpermanently connected to the door 24 and its other end is provided witha loop 41 which loosely engages a pin 42 extending downwardly from thebar 34. The rod 35 extends past the channel member 32 and is providedwith an arm 44 which extends horizontally at right angles to the rod 35.

A latch release arrangement is provided which includes a vertical rodmember 45 and a spring 46 connected between the arm 44 and a point nearthe bottom of the channel member 32. The rod member 45 is pivotallymounted on the edge of the channel member 32 by means of a pair ofsleeves 47 and is provided with a short horizontally extending arm 49 onthe upper end thereof and a longer horizontally extending arm 50 on thelower end thereof. The short upper arm 49 is normally positioned underthe arm 44 of the latch rod 35 to hold the latching bar 34 in ahorizontal position against the action of spring 46. The rod member 45is provided with horizontal pins (not shown) extending therethroughabove the sleeves 47 to prevent the rod member 45 from slidingvertically downward under the pressure of spring 46.

The foam generator 16 is of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,086.The generator includes a fan 51 mounted on the upper end of a shaft 52which is driven in the direction of the arrow (FIG. 2) by a water sprayarrangement (not shown) positioned within a perforated cylindrical foamforming wall 54 provided at the lower end of the generator. Theconstruction and operation of the water spray arrangement is shown anddescribed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,086 except that the rotarycoupling 53 is positioned at the bottom of the generator to preventinterference between the inlet water piping and the latch releasemembers.

The fan 51 includes blades 55 extending radially outwardly from a hub56. The hub 56 is secured to the shaft 52 by means of a nut 57 threadedonto the end of the shaft.

A plate 59 is secured to the top of the hub 56 and has an upwardlyextending arm 60 for engaging the arm 50 of the rod member 45 to actuatethe latch releasing arrangement.

The supply I9 of foaming solution mixture includes piping 61 connectedto a source of water under pressure, a valve 62, a source of foamingsolution 64, and a mixing device 65 for adding the proper amount offoaming solution to the water flowing through piping 61 to thegenerator.

In operation, when a fire occurs in the building, the valve 62 isopened, (either manually or by a tire detecting mechanism) and waterflows through the piping 61 to the foam generator 16. As the water flowsthrough the mixing device 65, foaming solution is drawn from the supply64 and added to the water flow at a predetermined rate. The mixture ofwater and foaming solution enters the generator 16 and flows through thewater spray arrangement driving the shaft 52 and the fanl in thedirection of the arrow shown in FIG. 2. As the fan starts to rotate, thearm 60 of the plate 59 strikes the arm 50 of the rod member 45 androtates the rod member 45 to move the arm 49 out from under the arm 44.The spring 46 then rotates the arm 44 downwardly placing the latchingbar 34 in a vertical position. As the bar 34 moves toward the verticalposition, the loops 40 and 41 slide off the pins 40 and 42. The doors 22and 24 are now released, and springs 29 cause them to pivot about thepins 25 into the open position.

The opening of the doors is completed within one revolution of the fan51, and, as the fan continues to rotate, it draws outside air throughthe open doors and forces this air through the perforations in the wall54. The water spray arrangement driving the fan also sprays the mixtureof water and foam forming solution onto the inner surface of the wall 54where it becomes entrained with the air to form high expansion firefighting foam.

it will be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides asimple and inexpensive ventilator and foam generator arrangement whereinthe ventilator normally is latched in the closed position to seal theroof opening and is automatically unlatched by the operation of thegenerator and quickly opens to admit outside air.

We claim: I

l. The combination with a roof having an opening extending therethrough,structure overlying said opening and a vertically oriented foamgenerator suspended from said structure and a shaft having an encirclinghub at the upper end thereof provided with a projection; said structurecomprising a plate member having anopening concentrically arranged withrespect to said first-mentioned opening and having said foam generatorsecured to the underside thereof with said shaft and said hub centrallypositioned with respect to said openings, an upright member extendingalong opposite edges of said plate member, a pair of doors each pivotedbetween said upright members at opposite ends for urging said doors intoan open position, a member secured to the upper side of said platemember extending radially across said opening, a pair of upright memberssecured to opposite sides of said last-mentioned member and facing eachother, a rotatably mounted, horizontally disposed rod extending throughsaid last-mentioned members having an arm at one end thereof, a latchmember secured to said rod for rotation therewith having pin means ateach end thereof, a spring member releasably connected to each of saidpin means and each secured to one of said doors to maintain said doorsin closed position, a vertical rod rotatably mounted on one of saidlast-mentioned upright members having an upper arm and having a lowerarm, said upper arm engaging said first-mentioned arm to prevent saidhorizontal shaft from turning and thereby maintaining said latch memberin position, and a spring for urging said firstmentioned arm againstsaid upper arm, said lower arm being inthe path of said projection sothat upon rotation of said foam generator shaft, said projection willturn said vertical rod and move said upper arm away from saidfirst-mentioned arm whereby said last-mentioned spring will rotate saidhorizontal rod to move latch members into a position to release saidspring members and cause said doors to be opened by said first-mentionedsprings.

2. Structure according to claim 1 wherein said first-mentioned uprightmembers are angle irons each having a horizontal pin adjacent both endsthereof, said doors each being pivoted on a pair of pins, and saidfirst-mentioned springs include a spring curled around each of saidhorizontal pins with one end of each spring being biased against thebase of said angle irons and the other end of each spring being biasedagainst doors.

